Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Update 23-Jun-2014: After 150 days of waiting, I've given up. I found a better, cheaper solution. Intel has no interest in fixing the reported and verified issues. After installing latest BIOS and drivers, I still can't yank out the HDMI cable and use the unit headless. What's up with that? How hard is it to fix that? All the other issues, such as inability to boot with certain USB devices remain unfixed. Intel has ceased to provide status updates on any of these issues on their community discussion website. They've left complaining owners holding the bag. They've moved on. So now I have too. I found a better solution. YMMV. Be sure to check it out. I bought a Gigabyte Brix GB-BXBT-2807.Gigabyte Intel Celeron N2807 Mini PC Barebones GB-BXBT-2807. Its everything I wanted and expected from this NUC and even more, even cheaper. The Brix has much lower power consumption, no fan, dead silent, flawlessly serves up Blu-Ray ISOs from the DAS, runs Windows 7, 8.1, Ubuntu 14.04, Mint 17, OpenELEC. It happily works headless and boots with all my USB devices attached. While it's not a Core i3 in speed, it is sufficiently performant for most tasks. It makes a really great 24x365 Windows/Linux/HTPC/OpenElec server. Absolutely check it out. Update 28-Mar-2014: 90 days later -- Still no fixes. Just blah-blah. How is it possible that Intel can't fix major BIOS and driver issues? This is a great example of why open source is the safest choice. Update 8-Mar-2014: Rumblings of a revolt on Intel Community forum. Months later no fixes. Here's my statement to Intel about why they should be a good citizen and fixes their BIOS and drivers. "I can't make a compelling case for how my living room HTPC impacts sales. I can state that my Amazon review, currently pinned as a top helpful review, is going to become increasingly more negative due to the total lack of fixes for the headless HDMI and USB boot issues. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, INTEL PLEASE FIX THESE ISSUES. I EXPECT A COMPUTER TO BOOT WITH USB DEVICES ATTACHED. I EXPECT I CAN PULL THE HDMI CABLE OUT AND USE THE NUC HEADLESS. I'M TOTALLY STUCK AND NOT FEELING THE LOVE. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE FIX YOUR ISSUES. Update 27-Feb-2014: 60 days later -- Still no fixes. At least Intel is being more active in discussing the fail on boot issue on their NUC forums. Update 27-Jan-2014: 30 days later -- No fixes for any of the four reported bugs. However, Intel has now confirmed all four issues. Lowered rating to two stars. Intel, where's the updates? Update 28-Dec-2013: Others are confirming the inability to boot when USB 3 devices are attached. Likely this is an issue with all D34010WYK NUCs, maybe even all Haswell NUC variations. If you are thinking of buying this NUC and attaching USB 3.0 devices, you'd better read this thread: communities.intel.com/message/213356#213356 Update 24-Dec-2013: BIOS setup GUI freezes upon selecting some specific options (yes, before even saving changes) such as "Boot immediately upon power-on". Other options freeze too. Update 24-Dec-2013: New hassle. NUC fails in BIOS bootstrap when more than 1 USB 3.0 device is plugged in. When more than one USB 3.0 device is plugged in, the startup screen has a missing "F2 to enter setup ..." message. Solution is to plug in just one USB device, power off/on, immediately after BIOS stage hands off to Windows, you can plug in all devices without issue. I'm guessing that early BIOS stage doesn't enable, or can't draw, full USB 3.0 current but does so immediately upon handing off to Windows. The issue occurs using a powered USB 3.0 hub with all USB 3.0 devices also powered. It also occurs without the hub. Can anyone else confirm this issue? I'm guessing this is just an issue with the BIOS firmware which can be corrected with a BIOS update. Several major disappointments. My usage is as an always-on device mainly for HTPC use (file service, transcoding, etc). First disappointment is the noticeable fan noise -- a bit of a grinding or whirring sound. It's just loud enough to be noticeable and hard to mask. Second disappointment, perhaps temporary, is due to a graphics driver bug, you are blocked from running it as a headless Windows PC. It needs to have an active monitor plugged in at all times - it needs the monitor's EDID. If you either try to boot without a monitor, or you boot but later yank out the HDMI cable, the remoting software (LogMeIn, SplashTop, etc) freezes with a black screen and dead mouse. This was not the behavior on the Ivy Bridge versions of NUC, only the Haswell. I'm using Windows 8.1 Pro N with the latest BIOS and drivers.